Rutendo and her friend Sophie at the launch of Rutendo's first book, 'Rachel and the Enchanted Forest', which she dedicated to her friend. Photo / Supplied
Rutendo and her friend Sophie at the launch of Rutendo's first book, 'Rachel and the Enchanted Forest', which she dedicated to her friend. Photo / Supplied
Tokoroa teen Rutendo Shadaya, 14, is typing up a storm as she starts work on her third fantasy novel - only months after launching her second.
Rutendo was bitten by the writing bug after self-publishing her first book 'Rachel and The Enchanted Forest' in 2020, and quickly set herself the goal to write a series.
However, when she drafted her first book at the age of just nine, she didn't really like writing, and only took on the challenge for one special person: Her friend, Sophie Thompson.
"My writing journey started because I needed a birthday present for my friend, and I thought, 'She likes reading, I am going to write her a book'," Rutendo says.
"I spent days, hours, on the computer writing the story, but I didn't get it done in time for [Sophie's] birthday. My parents said I could just give her the story on paper, but I wanted it to be a real book."
Little did Rutendo know, it was going to take two years until she could finally launch the book and give it to Sophie.
The big process included a lot of proofreading and editing - and convincing her parents Rachael and Blessing, originally from Zimbabwe, that she wasn't joking about publishing a book.
"My parents didn't take me seriously when I first told them I wanted to write a book."
But once they realised Rutendo had set her mind to it, they threw the whole family force behind her.
Tokoroa High School principal William Ford and Rutendo Shadaya at the launch of her second book, 'Rachel and the Chevene Pirates'. Photo / Supplied
"My dad was the first to read the story. He gave me feedback and I adjusted some parts of the story according to [that]. My brother sacrificed his computer time so I could write and my mum helped me meet other people to get the word out," Rutendo says.
She says her school, Tokoroa High School, had also been very supportive hosting the launch of her second book 'Rachel and The Chevene Pirates' in July this year and were including her books in the school library.
For her novels, Rutendo draws inspiration from TV shows and her favourite book series, 'The Land of Stories' by Chris Colter.
"I like fantasy and books with powers.
"When I wrote 'Rachel and The Enchanted Forest', I was watching the TV show Free Rein which has horses in it, so I included one in the story," Rutendo says.
As a young author, she says she wants to empower anyone to pursue their passion.
"You can do anything you want if you just set your mind to it.
"If you want to write, just start... don't worry about publishing until after you finished your story - it's going to be a big process. Sometimes you need to try and motivate yourself, but it's okay to take breaks from writing, too."
Despite currently suffering from writer's block, Rutendo has already started work on her third novel.
